Frosted Cups and Cozy Flavors

The Release of Starbucks’ Winter Menu

Photo by YMA on Unsplash

As spooky decorations and frightful costumes are put back into storage, places all around the world are switching over to a Christmas theme, especially coffee chains. On Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, Starbucks released their long-awaited winter drinks and bakery items. This menu included the return of favorite festive drinks as well as new ones for fans to try. As people wait in line early in the morning to get their festive merchandise and try the new drinks, let's look into which drinks Starbucks has brought back or introduced in the 2025 season. 

Peppermint Mocha: 

The Peppermint Mocha has been a Christmas favorite for years, debuting for the first time in 2002. This signature espresso is a combination of steamed milk, mocha sauce and peppermint flavored syrup, decorated with whipped cream and chocolate curls on top. When tasting it, you can experience a rich, chocolatey coffee with hints of sweet peppermint. This espresso can be ordered hot, iced or as a Frappucino blended beverage. 

Caramel Brulée Latte: 

This Starbucks drink was first released in 2007 and quickly became a popular seasonal item. The Caramel Brulée Latte is made by combining steamed milk and rich caramel brulée sauce, topped with whipped cream and caramel brulée curls. This drink is also served hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended drink. The taste of this drink is sweet and rich, with flavors of burnt sugar and vanilla, tasting like a crème brûlée dessert. 

Iced Sugar Cookie Latte: 

The Iced Sugar Cookie Latte is a combination of Starbucks’ own Blonde Espresso, ice, milk and sugar cookie syrup, topped with red and green sprinkles. Like the other drinks, it is available hot, iced or as a Frappuccino blended drink. The taste of this drink resembles a buttery sugar cookie mixed with coffee, vanilla and almond milk; it is described as a sweet and less intense version of vanilla coffee. It was first released on Nov. 4, 2021, and was the first non-dairy holiday drink on Starbucks’ holiday menu. 

Iced Sugar Cookie Breve: 

Released for the first time this year, the Iced Sugar Cookie Breve is made by combining velvety half-and-half with espresso, creating a creamy and rich change. This drink tastes like a sweet sugar cookie with a creamy coffee blend, offering a buttery and sweet experience. It offers a change from the normal drinks that Starbucks offers, but it is quickly becoming a fan favorite and climbing in popularity. 

Iced Gingerbread Chai: 

The Iced Gingerbread Chai is a mixture of chai spices, creamy milk and ice, topped with gingerbread-flavored cold foam and decorated with a spice topping. This drink was first released on Nov. 2, 2023, and is known for its spiced, creamy flavors combined with a warm, sweet taste of gingerbread. 

Holiday Cold Foams: 

Along with these signature drinks, Starbucks released many different cold foams that customers can enjoy as toppings. One option is the Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam, a sweet, spicy gingerbread-flavored foam blended with Starbucks vanilla sweet cream. Next is the Peppermint Chocolate Cream Cold Foam, which has peppermint-flavored syrup and mocha sauce, combined with vanilla sweet cream. Another foam offered is the Sugar Cookie Cream Cold Foam, which features a sugar cookie flavored syrup blended with vanilla sweet cream as well. Lastly, there is the Caramel Brulée Cream Cold Foam, which includes a rich caramel brulée sauce and is also blended with the vanilla sweet cream. 

Bakery: 

Starbucks’ winter menu also includes various bakery items offered throughout the winter season. One of these bakery items is the new Cinnamon Pull-Apart, which includes warm, flaky croissant pieces sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and topped with crunchy streusel; this item will be available all year for purchase. They also brought back their Snowman Cookie, a buttery shortbread cookie decorated with chocolate icing. Starbucks added a new design to their list of cake pops, the Polar Bear Cake Pop. Lastly, Starbucks brought back their Cranberry Bliss Bar, a blondie cake with dried cranberries and a layer of cream cheese icing, as well as the Sugar Plum Cheese Danish, a buttery Danish pastry filled with cream cheese and topped with spiced sugar plum spread. 

The return and addition of items on the Starbucks winter menu makes customers excited for the winter season, offering a preview of Christmas in early November. Make sure to run to Starbucks to try each of these items before the holiday season is over!